Tied Together With a Smile
by Auden Grey
Summary: "Sometimes I like to pretend I'm in Hawaii," Cat tells Jade so quietly that Jade has to scoot closer to hear. Her brother's screams are getting louder downstairs. "That I'm at the beach all by myself."


**Sooo, this is basically my little interpretation of what goes on at home with Cat. It's not at all like the other things I've written and it's kind of depressing and yeah, I don't know lol. I apologize if it's OOC, I did my best!**

* * *

"Caterina, this is ridiculous. Stop playing with your food and just eat it."

Jade takes a sip of water to hide the smirk growing on her lips as Mrs. Valentine stares annoyingly at her daughter. Her tone is not at all threatening so it's no wonder Cat keeps playing with her food.

"No," Cat pouts, hiding a spoonful of peas in her lumpy mashed potatoes.

Jade just rolls her eyes and continues eating her own peas and minding her own business. Cat's brother is sitting right next to her and she can feel him staring at her intensely. It's annoying and all she wants to do is elbow him in the ribs but she promised Cat she'd be on her best behavior. She watches as Cat ignores her mother and starts stabbing her chicken repeatedly with a fork. Then Cat tries to feed some to Mr. Purple who's perched on the table next to her.

"Caterina," Mrs. Valentine tries again. It's a bit weird for Jade to hear Cat being called Caterina. She's only ever called her that once or twice and that was way back in kindergarten. "If I have to ask you one more time Jade will have to go home."

"I want spaghetti," Cat whines like a small child. She stares forlornly at her brother as he slurps his spaghetti obnoxiously. "It's not fair! Sammy gets spaghetti! Why can't I?"

This would be the part at school where Jade pulls out a coloring book to shut Cat up. But since she's a guest in the Valentine house, she just sits back. She's kind of intrigued to see how Cat's childishness plays out at home. So far, Cat's losing.

Mrs. Valentine massages her temples and places her fork down calmly. "You know your brother is not allowed to eat anything that requires using a knife."  
Cat's eyes are brimming with her fake crocodile tears and Jade wants to see if Mrs. Valentine will give in.

"It's not fair!" Cat complains while crossing her arms and kicking her seat. "Sammy gets everything!"

Sam just slowly slurps a single piece of spaghetti while keeping eye contact with Cat's. Jade's praying he chokes on it and she contemplates scaring him so he'll do just that.

"Stop!" Cat whines at her brother. She tugs on her mother's hand and points an accusing finger at Sam. "He's teasing me, mom!"

When Mrs. Valentine looks up, Sam quickly looks down at his plate. She pinches the bridge of her nose and looks at Cat angrily.

"I've had enough, Cat. One more outburst and Jade goes home. Understand?"

Cat goes to protest but Jade finally speaks up because even she's getting tired of Cat's complaints. "Just eat your dinner, Cat. Maybe after I'll take you to Freezy Queen."

Just like that, Cat wipes her fake tears and happily takes a huge forkful of food and shoves it into her mouth.

"Can I come?" Sam asks, leaning so far into Jade that she can smell his spaghetti breath.

"No," Jade says quickly, as if she were talking to Tori.

Sam throws his fork down. "I still have your bra."

"Great," Jade says in disgust.

"I wear it to bed."

"Lovely."

"It gives me a lot of support."

Mrs. Valentine butts in. "Samuel, enough."

"Yeah," Cat says with a mouthful of chicken. "Where are your table manners?" She sticks her tongue out just to be annoying.

Jade can't help but laugh because Cat is the epitome of an annoying little sister right now. But then her smile fades three seconds later when Sam throws his plate at Cat and starts cursing at her with every colorful word under the sun. Cat starts to cry while Mrs. Valentine remains unnerved. It must happen every single night.

"Dude," Jade finally snaps when Sam calls Cat a nasty word that even she would never consider using. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Shut up, Elvira," Sam yells, reaching over to yank a piece of Jade's purple hair. Jade just smacks his hand away. "Shouldn't you be in your coffin until the sun goes down?"

"Don't talk to Jade like that!" Cat yells from across the table. Jade kind of jumps because she's never heard Cat yell so seriously like that.

She turns to her mother. "Mom, make him leave the table! He's being mean to my best friend!"

Mrs. Valentine shakes her head and Jade's at a loss for words right now. Not that she wants kids, but if her kid ever spoke like that to anyone she'd ground him for life. "Just ignore him, Cat. Provoking only makes it worse."

"But, mommy!" Cat wails. Full on tears are streaming down her face and for once, Jade's not annoyed.

" Cat," Mrs. Valentine snaps. Cat winces and shrinks down in get seat like a scared little girl. "Maybe you need to leave the table."

"No!"

Jade looks at Cat sympathetically and tries to get her to calm down by mouthing the word ice cream. But Cat's too busy storming over to her brother to notice.

"You ruin everything!" she screams, jabbing her finger into Sam's shoulder. Jade's trying to hold her back but it's not working.

Sam just laughs evilly and grabs Cat's hand, twisting it around.

"Let her go," Jade snaps. She pulls Cat back onto her lap and places a protective hold on her middle as she sobs and holds her aching hand.

Mrs. Valentine looks at her children tiredly. Cat's bawling in Jade's lap and Sam has thrown himself on the floor, smashing his head into the floor.

"Stop it, Sammy!" Cat demands, trying to squirm out of Jade's lap. She knows if Sam doesn't stop, her mom will have to call the police and Jade will probably never want to talk to her again. She starts kicking Jade's shins to let her friend know she wants to get down but Jade's not having it. "Let me go, Jade!"

Jade doesn't know what to do. Sam is literally thrashing around on the floor and she's just waiting for his head to burst open. Mrs. Valentine is huddled in the corner, whispering into her phone and Jade assumes the police are coming. She wants to shield Cat's face but judging by the way Cat's screaming at her brother, she's more than used to this.

Mrs. Valentine puts the phone down and kneels down by her son, trying to get a steady hold of his shirt to keep him still. "Samuel, stop! Stop making a scene."

"Just leave him!" Cat yells toward her mom, finally breaking free when Jade gives up and lets her go. She pulls at her mother and tries to tear her away. "He just wants the attention, mom! Just ignore him!"

"Cat, go upstairs," Mrs. Valentine snaps at her daughter. Jade sits back in the chair; she's never heard Mrs. Valentine ever raise her voice at Cat.

"No," Cat whimpers, swiping at her tears. "He just wants attention, mommy! And you keep giving it to him!" She stomps her foot and looks at Jade helplessly. She doesn't want her best friend seeing this. "He's ruining everything! He always ruins everything!"

All of a sudden, Sam stands up and towers over Cat. Jade doesn't even take a second to react. She flings out of her chair and grabs Cat by her waist, lifting her up in one swift motion.

"Let's go upstairs," Jade tells Cat, trying to keep a firm hold on her.

Cat keeps kicking Jade's legs and squirming all around. "No, Jade! He's just jealous I have a friend over and he doesn't! Let me go!" she pleads with a heartbreaking sob. "Put me down!"

Jade doesn't listen. She can faintly hear Mrs. Valentine whispering to Sam that if he doesn't stop, the police will come. She manages to get Cat halfway up the stairs and practically drops her when Cat finally kicks her hard enough in the knee. Thankfully, Cat just runs up into her room and slams the door.

After a minute, Jade awkwardly lingers in Cat's bedroom doorway, unsure if she has the permission to enter after witnessing a true Samuel Valentine freak out. It's a lot to take in, now being privy to Cat's home life. She's always been suspicious of Cat and her tales about her brother and now she knows for sure all the ridiculous stories Cat spins is just her way of coping with the unpredictability of her brother.

She knocks on the door lightly and takes a few steps in, listening to the muffled sobs from under the bed. She remembers the day Beck pulled Cat into the closet to ask her if she and Beck fight a lot. She remembers Cat chanting, _"I'm under my bed, I'm under my bed"_ repeatedly as she fought with her ex-boyfriend about being the worst couple. Jade kneels next to Cat's bed, lifting the obnoxiously bright pink bed skirt gently. Cat's curled up in a ball, her face buried in Mr. Purple _and_ Mr. Longneck.

"Is there room for one more?" Jade asks softly, making sure she doesn't startle Cat. She hopes Cat isn't mad at her for physically removing her from the situation downstairs. But there's like a switch that goes off and any time Cat seems like she's in danger, Jade feels like it's her duty to swoop in and shield Cat from any harm.

Cat looks up from her giraffes and Jade swears she can feel her heart breaking. Her best friend's eyes are red-rimmed and unshed tears are swimming in her big brown eyes. Cat just nods and pushes over a bit, giggling a little when Jade mumbles and grumbles about being too big to fit under Cat's twin bed. Jade expects Cat to scoot over and bury her face into her neck and cry, but Cat stays put, looking up at the worn bed frame.

"I thought you went home," Cat admits in a hoarse whisper. She's too afraid to look at Jade.

"Why would I do that?"

Cat shrugs and hugs her stuffed animals tightly. "Because you don't want to be my friend anymore," she sniffles, feeling a sob rising in her throat. "And I was mean to you when you were trying to protect me,"

Jade's confused for a moment. But the realization hits so suddenly that it almost hurts. "Cat," she begins softly, turning on her side to look at Cat and reach out to rub her shoulder. Cat whimpers and pulls away.

"No."

"Cat," Jade tries again, keeping her hands to herself this time. She knows Cat doesn't want her pity. "It gonna take a lot more than your crazy brother for me to not want to be friends with you."

Cat brightens at Jade's revelation and cocks her head to the side. "What if I kissed Beck?"

"Don't push it," Jade laughs lightly, rolling back onto her back to stare up at the bed frame like Cat. She notices there's tally marks everywhere. "What are these for?" She traces the yellow marks and frowns when some chalk rubs off. They're obviously still very new.

"I make a mark each time my brother…" Cat begins, but trails off tearfully. "Every time he, he gets taken away I make a mark."

Jade's stomach drops. There's at least two-dozen tally marks all over the bed frame. She can hear the police sirens and sees Cat flinch out of the corner of her eye. Mrs. Valentine is still yelling at Samuel, who's still cursing and throwing things downstairs. Jade herself is starting to get afraid.

"Sometimes I like to pretend I'm in Hawaii," Cat tells Jade so quietly that Jade has to scoot closer to hear. Cat's brother's screams are getting louder. "That I'm at the beach all by myself."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Cat repeats shyly. She starts tracing the brown spots on Mr. Purple and turns over on her side, her back facing Jade. The sirens are getting closer and closer and the tears are flooding down her face and she can't stop. She doesn't want Jade to think she's weaker than she already seems.

Jade just bites her lip and realizes she has no idea what to do. She's only really dealt with Cat crying and carrying on about Freezy Queen being out of her favorite ice cream flavor or something so minuscule that Jade can brush it off and get Cat to calm down with a reluctant hug and a coloring book. But even a hug right now probably wouldn't calm Cat down. The police are finally here and Cat lets out some stifled sob when she hears them break open the front door.

"Hey," Jade whispers, wrapping her arm around Cat's middle and hooking her chin on the redhead's shoulder. Cat tries to wiggle away but Jade holds her tight and reaches for Cat's free hand. "Tell me more about Hawaii."

Cat sucks in a deep breath and smiles. "Kay, kay," she whispers. "I want to be a hula girl! Wouldn't it be sooo much fun to wear a grass skirt and a coconut bra? Then we can dance around a fire!"

"That would be fun," Jade says, holding Cat even tighter when the police officers yell at Samuel about the consequences of resisting arrest. "What else?"

"I want to go body surfing with a dog!" Cat continues, slamming her eyes shut. Samuel's cursing so loudly she starts shaking. "Don't leave me, Jadey. Don't leave me!"

"I'm right here, baby girl," Jade says reassuringly. She squeezes Cat's hand and uses her free one to play with Cat's hair. She knows how much it soothes her.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Cat whimpers, biting back her fresh tears.

"Promise," Jade whispers. "What else are you gonna do in Hawaii?"

"I don't know," Cat starts to sob. "I don't know!"

"Okay, okay," Jade sighs and nuzzles Cat shoulder a bit to let her know she's still there and not going anywhere. She racks her brain to think of something that will distract Cat from the screaming downstairs. "Hey, do you think Blowtiss ever found her Prince?"

Cat lets out a nasally giggle and Jade sighs in relief. "Yeah!" Cat squeals. "His name is…his name is…Flynn."

"How original," Jade says dryly, giving Cat a hug so she knows she's just kidding.

"And they had lots of babies," Cat continues in a trembling voice. "They lived happily ever after!"

"I'm sure they did."

"It's never this bad," Cat tells Jade quietly after a minute. "It's never this bad," she repeats with a stifled sob. "Make it stop, make it stop!"

Jade feels helpless. There's nothing she can do about this and it's killing her. Cat's literally seconds away from having a meltdown and there's apart of Jade that wants to encourage it so Cat's not bottling it all up inside. She has every right to sob and scream and cry because it's not fair.

"I hate my brother sometimes."

Jade balks at Cat's sentence. She's _never_ heard Cat say she hates anything. In fact, Cat always lectures her when she uses the word hate. She prefers the term dislike but even that's not a nice word.

"What?" Jade can't help but ask.

"I hate Sammy sometimes," Cat says again. She says it so firmly and loudly that Jade almost feels proud. "He ruins everything."

"I don't blame you," Jade finally speaks. "I don't blame you at all, Cat."

"And my mommy just lets him get away with everything," Cat continues with a sniffle. By now, all of her tears have dissipated. "It's not fair, Jade."

"It's not."

Cat huffs and rolls over to face Jade. She starts to fiddle with Jade's necklace before burying her face into the nape of Jade's neck. "Sometimes I wish Sammy wasn't my big brother," she squeaks out and Jade knows she feels bad for saying it out loud. "I wish you were."

Jade looks at Cat in confusion. "What?"

"Oh," Cat giggles. "You know what I mean!"

"I thought you were calling me a boy," Jade teases, reaching down to tickle Cat's sides, anything to make her shriek in laughter. The police have taken Samuel away now. She can hear the car speed off into the quiet street. "It could be worse," she begins lightly. "You could be related to Trina."

Cat stops playing with Jade's necklace and smiles. "I like Trina."

"Ugh," Jade groans. "You would."

"Jade?"

"Cat?" Jade mocks good-naturedly.

"You're my best friend," Cat smiles against Jade's shoulder. "Forever and ever."

Jade rubs Cat's back and smiles as well. "You're my best friend, too, Cat."

Cat can't help but grin widely because that's the first time in a while she's heard Jade say it out loud.

"Can we play pirates?"

"No," Jade says quickly. "You know I hate that game."

Cat rubs her tired eyes and suppresses a yawn. "Fine," she pouts. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Sure," Jade nods, pulling on the side of the bed to help her get out.

"No!" Cat shouts, pulling at Jade's arm. "Under here."

"Why?"

"Because," Cat whispers. "I like sleeping under my bed when my brother goes away. Just, just in case he comes back. He never finds me under here."

Jade sighs in agreement and ruffles the pink pillow Cat has. She watches her small friend curl back into a ball and rest Mr. Purple and Mr. Longneck against her cheek. Jade props herself up on her hand and watches Cat's eyes flutter. Jade reaches over and starts to rub Cat's back, smiling to herself when Cat smiles contently and finally shuts her eyes.

"Please don't tell anyone about this, Jade," Cat says sleepily.

"I won't," Jade promises, kissing the top of Cat's head.

"Thank you."

Jade rubs Cat's side and brushes the hair out of her eyes. "Next time your brother acts up, call me and I'll come get you, okay?"

"Okay. And then can we go get ice cream and play pirates and pretend we're hula girls in Hawaii?"

Jade chuckles and pokes Cat's side. "Fine."

Cat squeals in response, but soon enough, she's fast asleep. Jade debates spending the night, but she's still got a lot of homework to do and Cat seems like she can handle it from here. She slides out from under the bed and rubs her back when it feels like an elephant has stepped it on. When she gets downstairs, Mrs. Valentine is sitting on the couch with her head buried in her hands.

"Uh," Jade clears her throat. She's not sure if Mrs. Valentine knows she's still here. "Cat's asleep. Under the bed, she's uh, asleep under the bed."

Mrs. Valentine's face mirrors Cat's; her eyes are all bloodshot and she looks beyond exhausted. "Thank you so much, Jade. You've always been so good to my baby."

Jade nods awkwardly. "Yeah."

"Please don't, please don't let Samuel's actions stop you from coming over here, okay?" Mrs. Valentine pleads. "It would break Cat's heart."

"I won't, Mrs. Valentine," Jade says softly, wringing her hands together. "Cat's my best friend," she adds in bluntly. "She always will be." She forces some kind of smile and stops herself from lashing out at Mrs. Valentine and how she treats Cat but that's for another day. "Thanks for dinner."

Mrs. Valentine just laughs sadly and shows Jade to the door.

* * *

"Last night," Cat begins, chirpily, staring at all of her friends until they look up from their lunches. "My brother threw his plate of spaghetti at me because he thought it was haunted."

Andre just groans and shares a confused look with Tori. "Why?"

"He's weird," Cat giggles into her little hands, looking up to see if Jade has still kept her promise. "Jade came over to my house last night for dinner! Isn't Sammy so silly?"

"Yeah," Jade agrees softly as Cat beams at her. She's the only one who notices how forced Cat's voice sounds. "He's pretty weird."

Tori changes the subject and Jade watches Cat intently. She's laughing and smiling and carrying on like nothing had happened the previous night. She's literally tied together with a smile and as much as it hurts Jade to know Cat's created some sort of fantasy world to cope with her brother, there's nothing she can do about it.

When there's a lull in the conversation, Cat tugs at Jade's arm shyly. "Can I come over tonight? Sammy is coming home."

"Sure," Jade whispers, nudging Cat's shoulder.

"I'll bring my pirate stuff!" Cat squeals, wiggling excitedly in her seat.

Jade can only force a smile. "_Great_!" She glares at Robbie, who seems to be sulking in his seat over not being invited. "Why don't you show me how Robbie plays pirates? I'd _really_ like to know so I can hurt him tomorrow."


End file.
